How the Oscar 'in memoriam' segment is decided

By Anthony Breznican, EW.com

Updated 1708 GMT (0108 HKT) February 27, 2014

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Slates for Sarah – Sarah Elizabeth Jones died doing the job she loved. The South Carolina native was working as a second camera assistant when she was killed on set February 20. Her friends and the film community are rallying to remember Jones in a movement called Slates for Sarah. Hundreds have shared photo tributes since the group started days after her death.

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Slates for Sarah – "She was really just an easygoing [person], loved to have fun and really enjoyed what she did kind of person," says her friend, Eric Henson. He and Jones were on a set in New Orleans when this photo was taken.

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'Glee' – Crew members from the TV show "Glee" shared messages of "RIP Sarah Jones."

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'The Vampire Diaries' – Jones worked on the set of "The Vampire Diaries" in Atlanta as a second camera assistant. Part of her job included marking the start of a take with a camera slate. Her co-workers shared this tribute in remembrance of her.

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'The Vampire Diaries' – Buses of crew members from "Vampire Diaries" and other productions filming in Georgia were on their way to Jones' memorial in Columbia, South Carolina, on Wednesday afternoon.

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Full Sail University – The cinematography department at Full Sail University shared this tribute for Jones on Tuesday. The colorful tape is standard issue on film sets.

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Worldwide tributes – Within a day, the movement to honor Jones had spread beyond the United States. Workers at a camera rental house in Berlin were moved to share this photo tribute.

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'Nashville' – Crew members from the set of the TV show "Nashville" honor Jones. One of her duties as a camera assistant was to mark shots with a camera slate.

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'The Americans' – "I've had a lot of people saying, 'I haven't seen something like this in 30 to 40 years in the film industry,'" said Henson. "The solidarity of people coming together has really been incredible."

'Downton Abbey' – Workers from the set of "Downton Abbey" shared their condolences. By Wednesday afternoon, more than 30,000 people had "liked" the Facebook group.

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'Brooklyn Nine-Nine' – Crew members from "Brooklyn Nine-Nine" paused to remember Jones, as well as Brent Hershman. Hershman was a crew member who died in 1997 when he fell asleep at the wheel and crashed his car after a 19-hour day. His death spawned a large conversation about working hours and workplace safety.

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'Sharknado 2' – Even the crew on the set of "Sharknado 2" shared their message of remembrance.

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Story highlights

Two deaths are being petitioned for inclusion in this year's Oscars "in memoriam"

The process of listing actors in this segment takes place weeks in advance

A list of roughly 300 submissions often gets whittled down to around 40

The producers don't get to decide, but rather an Academy committee

The film industry was devastated by two recent deaths that have led to a movement to alter this Sunday's "in memoriam" segment of the Oscars telecast: One was the natural causes passing of comedy filmmaker Harold Ramis, 69, and the other was the accidental death of camera assistant Sarah Jones, 27, who was struck by a train in Georgia while working on a biopic of rock musician Gregg Allman.

Ramis, the star of "Ghostbusters" and "Stripes," and director of "Vacation," "Caddyshack" and "Groundhog Day," died on Monday at his home in Chicago, while Jones, whose credits include "Midnight Rider" (the film that led to her death) and the TV series "The Vampire Diaries," was killed last Thursday while filming on a bridge that authorities said was supposed to be off-limits to the production.

Due to the questions surrounding her death, her name has become a rallying cry for behind-the-scenes workers calling for more scrutiny of on-set safety, and it has also led to a movement. Many are signing petitions and making telephone calls asking the producers of the Oscars to include her in the telecast's tribute. But ... that effort misunderstands how that part of the show is created.

Under most circumstances, a film worker in Jones' position would not be included in the telecast's tribute. That's not meant as a dismissal of her, or her job, but there are many thousands of people employed by the entertainment industry, and — for better or worse — the Oscars tend to focus only on the deaths of those who are familiar to the public at large.

If not, you could expect the "in memoriam" segment to take up the entire 3-and-a-half-hour running time of the telecast.

But yes, there certainly have been times when exceptions were made. At the 83rd annual ceremony, publicist Ronni Chasen was included after being gunned down while driving home from a movie premiere, even though her name was only well-known within the film industry.

There's no question the Academy could make a change if it wanted — particularly if it was a matter of sending a message about on-set safety. But the decision is not up to the producers — this year, Craig Zadan and Neil Meron — so efforts to flood their offices with letters, emails, phone calls, and a bombardment of tweets is simply taking the argument to the wrong people. (The producers themselves did not immediately return a call for comment.)

While they control much of the content of the telecast, there are two elements of the Oscars over which they have no say: the "in memoriam" reel and tickets to the show. This is partly designed to protect whomever is producing the show — a way of preventing them from getting deluged by requests for either.

So who decides? That would be a committee made up from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, who sift through a list of about 300 submissions and decide yea or nay on who makes the cut, depending on their contribution to filmmaking. Roughly 40 end up being included in the film, which is created weeks in advance of the Oscars.

The producers are given the list, and then commission the film. And almost every year, the names of those left out tend to cause an uproar.

The film can be re-edited at the last minute, and that is very likely going to be the case with Ramis — a decades-long presence in the TV and film business, responsible for some of the most memorable and thoughtful comedies of the past 30 years. But if he does make the cut, it is those achievements that are being commemorated, not just his demise. And his last-minute addition will come at the behest of the Academy, not the producers.

In the case of Sarah Jones, it's very possible that all the film crews who are galvanized to action by her death could make a compelling case for her inclusion in the broadcast. But that case has to be made to the Academy, and not the producers, who can do nothing but refer such requests to AMPAS. (All while trying to put a show on this Sunday.)

Those who hope the Oscars will take a stand on this issue should be sure to make their request in the right direction. It may be too late for this year, but those who believe in this cause could also benefit from making sure it's remembered a year from now.